June 7, 2007

New World Records A Brief History

• Founded in 1974 as Bicentennial project of Rockefeller Foundation

• 100 LP Anthology documenting the history of America through its music.

– New, contemporary recordings of traditional music (fife music, Civil War songs, popular dance melodies, American Indian chants, temperance and barroom ditties from the 19th Century, etc.)

– Original recordings reproduced from 78s (Sousa/Pryor band, popular tunes from the World Wars, seminal jazz recordings, etc.)

– Works of American composers in the classical/art music tradition (John Knowles Paine, John Cage, Ned Rorem, etc.)

• Each LP accompanied by extensive contextual material

– Photographs and illustrations – Liner notes written by scholars and other prominent experts– A comprehensive bibliography & discography

New World Records A Brief (Continuing) History

• 1976-1998– Complete run of LPs internationally distributed, at no

cost, to public and academic libraries– Unexpected demand for individual LP titles leads to

development of retail distribution apparatus– Income Sources

• Retail store sales• Group & “standing order” sales to institutions• Rockefeller Foundation funding• Francis Goelet

– NWR Mission (refined, if not redefined)• Emphasis on previously-unrecorded works by important

but neglected American composers• Continuation of original mission, recording and

distributing little-heard works of historical importance

DRAM A New Initiative for New World

• 1998 - 1999– NWR weathers industry downturn in retail

market• Declining CD sales as collectors are sated• Dramatic returns from brick & mortar stores• Retains steady demand from music library

subscription– New World Records launches website

• Receives numerous requests for copies of liner notes

• Digitization of liner notes (most not in electronic format) begins

– Death of Francis Goelet (1926-1998)

DRAM - Pilot Development• 2000

– NWR attends Music Library Association conference• Feedback indicates need for online access to content

– Relationship forged with NYU• Herman Krawitz, President of New World Records• Carol Mandel, Dean of Libraries at New York University

– Joint proposal developed• Initial grant received by NWR from Robert Sterling Clark• Matching grant received by NYU from the Mellon

Foundation– Project Manager engaged by NWR

• Personal anecdote [time permitting]• Discovery & Orientation

– “Real world” training in music copyright– No legacy title management system

DRAM - Areas of Inquiry• Intellectual Property (New World Records)

– Copyright(s) to be cleared• Sound Recording• Streaming license from publisher of each composition• Grand Rights (if appropriate)• DPD (downloading)• Text reprint permissions

– Royalty• No Congressionally mandated rate from Congress• Commitment made to retroactive payment for DRAM

use• Harry Fox Agency/RIAA• BMI/ASCAP/SESAC

– Alternatives considered, discarded• Locate DRAM server(s) outside United States• Fair Use

DRAM - Areas of Inquiry• Technology (NYU)

– Rick Ochoa, Senior Programmer, hired 2001– Server space allocated for DRAM– Data schema developed with input from LOC & NYPL– Test use of MARC records for quick start– Authentication mechanisms/Shibboleth

• Content Development/Production (NWR)– Began digitizing/entering Public Domain material in NWR

catalog– Developed backoffice systems for clearing non-PD content

• Track-level metadata entry• Collection of contact information for all copyright holders

– Liner note conversion to keyword-searchable format (html)• Complexities of text clearance for online use of poetry

– Began negotiating terms for addition of content from other labels

DRAM - Fast Forward• Intellectual Property

– System for rights clearance & royalty accounting proven– Additional (new) funding received from Robert Sterling Clark

Foundation for further development– Expanded to include clearances of material from other

labels, in mutliple formats (streaming, Digital Phonodelivery, etc.)

• Technology– Migration from NYU to commercial host underway (June

2007)– Hiring of additional personnel for programming/IT support– Planned development of new features for DRAM

• Expand functionality of music player• Streamline authentication• Improve integration with partner label websites• Downloads and/or custom to-order CDs for subscribers

– R&D discussion with Indiana University/Variations3

DRAM - Fast Forward• Content Development/Production

– DRAM’s content is unique• Currently over 1,500 CDs (almost 9,000 compositions)

– Diverse New World Records American music recordings• Folk to opera, Native American to jazz, 19th century

classical to early rock, musical theater, contemporary, electronic and beyond

– Other labels currently signed (content in process of being added to DRAM) include:

• CRI, Albany, innova, Cedille, XI, Pogus, Deep Listening, Mutable, Cold Blue Music, Artifact Recordings, Frog Peak Music

– Alliances with other major and independent labels and archival sources are crucial to DRAM's goal of collecting unique, difficult-to-find recordings for educational use and scholarly research

DRAM - New Areas of Inquiry• Business Model

– Library Relations/Building a Subscriber Base• Hired a Director of Library Relations (Stephanie Krueger,

2006)• Just over 70 subscribing institutions (May 2007)• Internal target of 300 institutions by end of calendar 2007

– Refine/Redefine Collection Philosophy• Inclusion of content from foreign sources and composers

– Changed name of parent organization, DRAM– Mission of New World Records remains unchanged

– Acquisition of CRI • Label ceased operation in 2003• Approval for merger given by NY State Attorney General

(2006)• Development of systems for “burn on demand” fulfillment

– New Sources of Online Income• iTunes, eMusic, etc. making (re)use of DRAM digital files• Amazon Marketplace

DRAM - Looking Forward• Planned Interface/Resource Enhancements

– Development of online radio station(s) & podcast library– Linking partnerships with other scholarly resources– Restoring playlist & other personalized functionality– Simplification of authentication protocols– Exposure of liner notes & other metadata through Google,

reconsidered

• Potential Future Developments– DRAM as not-for-profit “aggregator”

• Expand content base to include archival materials from university collections

• Act as online facilitator, rights clearinghouse, or both on behalf of partner labels & archives

– Web 2.0• Determine degree to which “peer-to-peer,” user-driven

philosophy informs feature development (if it should at all)• Reduce basic barriers to access

Functionality: Browsing

• Select “Browse” from main page• Select content area you wish to browse

Functionality: Searching• Enter “Search” on main page

– The simpler, the better (use one terms where possible)

– No Boolean available with basic search– Not case sensitive

• Search results retrieve track and album results

Functionality: Advanced Searching• Additional fields are searchable• Boolean “AND” search possible - just add

search boxes (Boolean does not work within a box)

• Can use advanced search to refine a previous search

Functionality: Listening to Music• Select a track or album after browsing or

searching by:– Choosing icon for item or– Choosing item, then selecting icon from album

track list

• Player will open in a new window and start once it has loaded

Functionality: Listening to Music• If you encounter any security windows, click

through them - track/album will then load and play